Wildcat Showdown
by jheckendorf25
Summary: Troy and Chad had a falling out after high school and now they have a showdown on the court with the teams they coach. In the process, Troy and Gabriella's relationship is tested. Will all of their relationships be restored?


8

High School Musical 4

By Jordyn Heckendorf

Eyes fixated on a computer screen, posture slouched over in an office chair, pen scrambling on paper, mouse hovered over the rewind and pause button. This was the life of the new boy's basketball head coach at East High High School. Who better for the position than Troy Bolton himself. Troy finally understood the analogy of life coming full circle; returning to his roots, where it all began. After traveling all over the place with college ball and overseas leagues, he and Gabriella were ready to stay in one place for a while. Yeah, that's right...the high school sweethearts are still thriving, the best power couple out there, but now they put a ring on it! As for Gabriella, she still continues to spend most of her time with her nose buried in a textbook since she is the new East High chemistry teacher.

Not everyone from their high school class stayed in touch over the years. Even though Troy and Gabriella managed to keep their spark alive, Troy and Chad's friendship faded away. After graduation, it finally sunk in with Chad that he had been living in Troy's shadow throughout high school. Troy was always the center of attention, on the court and on the stage. As a result, Chad did what he thought was best, to cut off all ties with Troy. That was not so easy to do when his wife, Taylor, still kept in touch with Gabriella every now and then. To make matters worse, Chad took up the job as head coach for the boy's basketball team at West High, the same time Troy received his job at East High.

Lying in Chad's office among the many papers spilled over his desk was one paper in particular that stood out. The lines of a thick red sharpie circled around the words: 3-22-17 West High vs. East High 7:15 pm (Home). Ironically, the same schedule and highlighted date sat on Troy's desk as well.

"You almost ready honey? I have your coffee sitting on the counter for you. We don't want to be late on our first day!" Troy sounded to his newlywed wife, Gabriella.

"Yes, I'll be down in a minute, I want to make sure I look good for picture day!"

Gabriella hustled down the stairs, three bags in hand, yet one free hand to snag her much needed coffee.

"Hmmm, light roast, caramel macchiato creamer, mixed with nonfat soy milk! Mr. Bolton, you get an A+ to start the day!"

"Why thank you, you kind of drilled your order into me after the few times I got it wrong...I've never been more terrified in my life!" Troy joked.

"Oh, please I don't get that cranky," Gabriella remarked.

Troy's eyebrows raised with a slight tilt of the head, yet followed by an irresistible smirk that guaranteed a grin from his passenger. And so that marked the beginning of a new daily routine for them. Each morning, Gabriella would be running a little late. Regardless of how the morning panned out, Troy always had her coffee ready to settle her down, which in return settled him down as well. After a long day working at East High, they couldn't wait to come home and relax with one another. For them, this meant thoroughly engaging themselves in musicals that aired on television, which included bursting out into song as if they were actually the characters performing.

It wasn't until the kickoff of the basketball season that these norms between Troy and Gabriella became "once-in-a-whiles".

Troy nervously scratched his head while aimlessly spinning in circles, "Gabriella, have you seen my duffel bag? You know, the one that has my clipboard, my scouting reports, my practice plans...the one that has everything I need to prepare for this week's game!"

"Calm down hun, I'm sure you just tossed it on the ground somewhere to clutter up more space like you always do" she uttered sarcastically followed by an eye roll.

"Seriously, I hate when you always glower at me for little stuff like that. Can you just help me find it please?"

He staggered upstairs to their walk-in closet, but couldn't fully open the door because of the jumble piled behind it. After digging and tossing items around, low and behold there sat his duffel bag. Clearly, it wasn't just his belongings that were scattered everywhere; it was obvious that he had too much floating around in his head that he didn't know how to sort. This trickled down into how he acted, felt, and communicated. While he did his best to hold himself together, it was in the comfort of his home that he let it out. The only thing Troy had to do was beat West High, then the extreme level of stress would finally be worth it.

"I know the big game is tonight, but Troy can you promise me one thing?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Please tell me you're not getting too worked up about beating Chad's team. Look at this as just another basketball game and nothing else okay? I know you guys haven't talked in ages, but I don't want you getting carried away. Besides, this is about the players on your team and not their selfish coach, understood?" Gabriella iterated clearly.

"No, no it's not. I'll be fine. I just like winning that's all." Troy shrugged.

"It better be," Gabriella stated with her arms crossed.

The atmosphere in the gym was so tense you couldn't cut it with a knife. Having two of the most legendary East High basketball alumni squaring off against each other as coaches happened to be a big deal not only to Troy and Chad, but to the school administration as well. The two ex-friends kept it professional in the midst of the game, only worrying about their team's performance. It was neck and neck the whole game until the final quarter. Troy had only been rotating a few players in order to keep his top athletes on the court; however, that left them fatigued for the final minutes. Meanwhile, West High had a deep bench and maintained their energy level up and down the floor to pull ahead, finishing with a seven-point lead to end the game.

Troy held his head high to set an example for his players, yet Chad's beaming smirk killed him inside as they shook hands after the game. Gabriella tried to comfort Troy the best she could, but his disappointment and jealousy defeated him too. She understood how much effort he planted into the season in preparation for this game, so she wasn't surprised to hear that he was going out with the other coaches to sulk together. Nonetheless, she did not expect for him to barge in the door at 2:00 am and violently chuck his clipboard at the wall.

"Troy, I don't even know who you are anymore! I've been giving you the benefit of the doubt most of the time, but now you've crossed the line! All these late nights out with the coaches or staying at the gym, abandoning me at home, never caring about how my day was, yet always complaining about yours. Day in and day out I've been there supporting you through the whole process. Have you ever once shown a tad bit of appreciation? No, you haven't. How do you think that makes me feel? Invisible, useless, unwanted, and the list goes on. I don't know where to go from here so it's time you start speaking up!"

"Gabriella, geez stop yelling so loud it hurts my ears. Now is not the best time to talk, I'm trying to recover from this devastating loss, which happened to be against Chad's team and makes it sting ten times more. It's late, we're both tired, let's just discuss this when we're calm and rested, all right?"

"You're trying to recover? I'm the one that's hurt here, and yeah it is late because you went out to drown your sorrows at the bar again. Well let me tell you something, your little sorrows are all fixated on just a game of sweaty guys trying to get a ball in a hoop. There are more important things in life, meaning it's time you snap out of it…!"

As Gabriella persisted to blast her opinions at Troy, he trudged directly past her and up the stairs to bed. After watching him neglect her heartfelt emotions, Gabriella burst into tears and eventually cried herself to sleep on the couch that night. Meanwhile, as Troy stumbled to the bathroom, a pregnancy test caught his eyes. He scanned it once, then again, locating the tiny perpendicular lines in the center. Not only were Gabriella's emotions flying high at the moment, but Troy's emotions were now spilled all over the place too. He didn't know whether to be confused, excited, or scared. Eventually, exhaustion got the best of him and convinced him to worry about it in the morning. No matter how hard he tried, that plus sign was the only thing on his mind.

When Troy woke up a few hours later, he examined his life with a new perspective. It was as if he could see the future laid out ahead of him and Gabriella, which brought him a great sense of peace.

Troy swiftly walked down the stairs headed towards Gabriella, who lay fast asleep. Gracefully, he tapped her on the shoulder waiting for her eyelids to open. A little dazed, she sat up anticipating what he was about to say.

Troy moved closer to her and softly whispered, "I'm ready to be a better husband, but more importantly, a better father." He held out the pregnancy test he had been clenching behind his back while trying to hold back tears; nevertheless, a few drops managed to escape the cellar of his eyes.

"Troy, I wanted to tell you, but you were so caught up in basketball I didn't want to distract you!" Gabriella replied emotionally.

"I know, I was a jerk. I blocked out everything around me when really I needed to let you in. You're my support system, my rock, the thing that keeps me going. No wonder I shut down, I can't function without you. I understand that now. I won't let anything stand in between us again!" declared Troy.

"You really mean that, not even your issues with Chad? I think it's time you guys sat down and worked things out...also because they'd make perfect godparents."

Troy's eyebrows heightened as he took a deep breath to contemplate the idea suggested by his wife. He knew he wouldn't be living up to his promises if he let insignificant high school drama intrude on his future family; therefore, he agreed to invite Chad and Taylor over for dinner later that week.

Gabriella answered the door while Troy was in the kitchen pacing back and forth, fidgeting with his sweaty palms.

"Hey Gabriella, we brought a hostess gift for you and Troy, but the wine is more so for you...it's a coach's wife's lifeline." Taylor comically added.

"Oh why thank you, you didn't have to do that! Come on in, you can set it right over here." she motioned. "Hi Chad, Troy is in the kitchen if you are looking for him."

Overhearing the conversation and the footsteps nearing him, Troy turned around and greeted Chad with an uneasy elongated tone, "Heeyy Chaaad, congrats on the win the other night!"

"Thanks Troy I appreciate it, but let's be real here, we're not just going to pretend like everything's fine this entire night are we?"

"Well no, but I didn't even know where to begin. I want things to be the way they used to. To be honest I think it's killing our wives that the two of them can't hang out without feeling guilty about it. Plus, Gabriella and I don't even have any other couples in our circle of friends...we don't even have a circle anymore! So tell me what we can do to fix this? What did I do to create this mess in the first place?"

"I mean you didn't really do anything intentionally, and I never told you how I felt, so part of this is on me too. It's just that throughout the years at high school, all everyone talked about was the star basketball player, Troy Bolton! When that wasn't enough everyone talked about the star actor, Troy Bolton! Meanwhile, I tried to ride the wave of excitement with you, but it was so hard when I constantly felt second best."

"Oh man, I never knew you felt that way. I should've been there for you more instead of soaking in all the attention. I can tell you for sure that right now, none of that high school popularity means a thing outside of those East High walls. What really matters is having a friend stay with you for the years to come, especially for moments like this. Moments of starting a family. I'm not sure if Gabriella mentioned this, but we want you guys to be the godparents of our future wildcat that's on the way! You think we can put this stuff behind us and move forward? I'm willing to if you are."

"I'm in, I already feel relieved that I at least got that off my chest. It's left behind me now. Taylor and I will be the best godparents out there! We're all in this together, am I right?"

"We sure are, but not if we have to perform that song again, my voice doesn't sound as good as it used to," Troy remarked.

At the sound of laughter, the girls sprang to the kitchen with giddiness written all over their faces.

"So...sounds like the boys are back huh?" the two of them said in unison.

Arms folded and backs leaning against each other, Troy and Chad shook their heads up and down, acting like the silly teenagers they were back in the day.

"Now that everyone is in good spirits and that your news is revealed, mind if I share some too?" asked Taylor.

"Looks like there's going to be more than one future wildcat running around here!" Chad announced eagerly.

Immediately the girls joined hands and bounced around in circles, continuously screaming in high pitched squeaky voices, which brought back more high school flashbacks.

"Man, we truly are the luckiest guys out there!" Chad beamed.

"Yeah, I never want to take this for granted. I mean look at this, we have all we need right in front of us!" Troy stated with sincerity in his voice and heart.


End file.
